Container lifting and emptying machine



June 11, 1946. s. H. HARRISON I CONTAINER LIFTING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 8, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l June 11, 1946. s. H. HARRISON 2,401,731 v COII'I'AIIIE 1?- LIFTING AND EMPTY ING MACHINE.

s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1944 I'l MIM 412 IN VEN TOR.

' PM W HTI'OIFNEY June- 11, 1946. s. H. HARRISON CONTAINER LIFTING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed Au 8, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 v INVENTOR Jfrlzzzg/ flzfirri flarn'sa n/ ATTORNEY Patented June 11, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER LIFTIN G AND EMPTYING MACHINE Sidney Herbert Harrison, Caldwell, N. J. Application August 8, 1944, Serial No. 548,616

'8 Claims.

Thi invention relates to a machine for lifti'n'g and inverting containers and particularly for emptyingmilk cans.

The machine is especially useful in creameries and dairy stations where many ten-gallon cans of milk are at present lifted, turned and emptied by hand, and then passed as inverted emptyc'ans through washers and sterilizers. For this reason the invention will first be described in co'nnection with such use.

Numerous machines 'for eliminating the heavy labor of emptying milk cans have been proposed. In so far as known to the applicant, none of these have meet with any substantial measure of success commercially.

The present invention provides a machine which solves the problem, without the use of any reciprocating parts. The machine is rapid and economical in its operation and low in original cost. It takes full cans automatically from a feed conveyor and finally delivers inverted emptied cans to the can washer.

The invention comprises the herein described machine and particularly such a machine including a lifting element mounted upon a power driven rotor for elevating a full can, inclining it, and finally inverting it upon a rack above the milk receiving member. In a preferred embodiment the invention comprises .means for causing the can during it inversion to move away from the lifting member, so that the lifting member in its further rotation clears the uppermost part of the inverted can. Preferably the invention comprises stops activated by the said rotor for limiting the movement of a can beyond the position on the feed conveyor from which the can is to be picked up and for preventing an additional can from crowding the one .neXt to be lifted by the lifting member. In the preferred embodiment the machine includes, also, means for pushing the fully inverted can away from the plane of .rotation o f the rotor.

The invention will be illustrated by description in connection with the attached drawings to which reference is made.

Fig. 1 is atop plan view certain accessories.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section on line 2-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. '4 is "a vertical Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a partial perspective view showing of my machine and section on line 4-4 of 2 particularly the can supporting portion of the equipment.

Fig. 6 hows a side elevation of the apparatus.

There is shown a stationaryroll conveyor ineluding a supporting frame It for rolls "I2 of iron or other suitable material. The conveyor may be inclined at such an angle that Icans I4 placed upon the conveyor move by gravity over the rolls to the lifting position occupied by can I6 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Alternately the conveyor may be level in which case cans are pushed by conventional means, such as driven rollers.

The lifting member includes platform elements 'or bars I8 and 25 mounted upon the rotor26 and so placed that, .as they are moved under the cans, they come between "the conveyor rollers I2 u on whichthe "can is supported at the moment. Beihind the elements I8 and 20 is a cradle member 38. Elements I8 and 20 and the cradle 38 are parts of the lifting member. The elements I8 and 28 constituting a base for engagement under the container to belifted are generally in 'the Shape Of 'fingers attached to the rotor, as by brace "24. Element '23 at one side is adjacent to and parallel to the plane of therotor. The other finger I8 has an upstanding flange 22 which, when the machine i lifting a container, limits the sidewise'movemerit of the containen as shown in Fig. 3. The cradle element 38 is attached to the fingers at the parts thereof that are at the rear as the rotor 26 is rotated, so that the cradle element is at the rear of the container being lifted. r

The upstanding "flange of the lifting member has a pointed end which pushe any improperly alined can to a predetermined accurate position with respect to the lifting member. The mounting of the lifting member upon the rotor'26 is by means of brace 24.

The rotor (or wheel) in turn is supported up n the frame 28 of "the machine and driven by clon- 'ventional mechanism indicated generally at '30.

Therotor 25 carries a part, as, for'example, the cam 29 (Fig. 2) which, as it rotates, controls the movement of the stops 3| and 32. i

The stop 3| moves up or down, depending on the phase of rotation of the rotor, so as to prevent milk can M from crowding can I6 which is first to be lifted by the machine. Also stop 32 when "in the raised position prevent can I6 from going beyond the desired position of stopping above the rollers I2 that come directly under the can at the lifting position. When, however, the can is to be lifted, the cam 29 on the rotor depresses stop 32 so that the can It may moveover to the right in Fig. 3 until it contacts or practically contacts the rotor or parts mounted thereon for supporting the lifting elements. When the lifting member is describing an upward arc, and lifting the can, stop 3| is in raised position, holding back can I4. When the lifting element is describing a downward arc, stop 3| is down and stop 32 is up, allowing can M to move until it hits stop 32. v

As the rotor revolves clockwise in the illustrative machineshown, the lifting elements l3 and 2|! pass under the can I6 and to the side of or between the conveyor rolls which support the can at this position. As the rotation of the rotor 26 continues, the can is lifted and inclined to a position at which milk begins to flow from the can and finally into the upright position as shown in Fig. 2.

As the can is raised and inclined, the end of the draining rack 34 engages the edge of the can, as by means of groove 33 near the end of the rack. This prevents the can from falling from complete engagement with the lifting member and particularly from the bracket or cradle 38 thereon until the can is in such position that it is either upright or will right itself when pushed by pushing member 40. This member is suitably a bracket mounted on the rotor and suitably extending in sloping manner as shown. It rotates with the lifting member, say a few degrees behind the rear part of the lifting member. The cradle 38 is divided.

This pushing member 40 also serves, when the can is on the draining rack including strips 42, to push the can away from the plane of rotation of the rotor or wheel 23, so as to assist in delivering the can to the conveyor 44 which carries the can away from the rotor and over the portion of the rack 46 above the washer and sterilizer (not,

shown). This equipment for handling, washing, and. sterilizing the can subsequent to leaving the pusher is conventional and not shown in detail.

Disposed below the draining rack with the strips 42 is a hopper-like member of any convenient size or shape for receiving milk poured from the can and delivering it to tanks or other desired receivers. This hopper is indicated at 43.

Suitable guide rods are used to assist in keeping the cans upright and on the right course, as v for instance the rods 50 and 52.

For smooth continuous operation, it is necessary that all rotating parts clear the inverted can when in position on the rack strips 42. This means that the can must move away from the lifting member by such a distance as to clear the bracket or cradle 38 shown on the rear of the lifting member, particularly in Fig. 2., This in turn requires that the part of the member 34 which contacts the edge of the can and holds the can to the lifting member during the early stages of the lifting of the can and its initial inclination must be disposed at a distance from the lifting member, when the latter is at the position of maximum elevation, by a distance slightly greater than the height of the can plus the height of the lifting mechanism including the cradle member 38. When this is the case then the can under the influence of gravity moves away from the lifting member by an amount sufficient to allow the cradle 38 to clear the uppermost part of the inverted can as the rotation of the rotor proceeds, as shown by the dot dash outlines of parts 29, 38 and 16 of Fig. 2.

The stops 3| and 32 are mounted upon the bar 48 which is suitably pivoted to the frame at 90$- tion 5| and to lugs on the stops at positions 53 and 54. Spring 55 secured at one end to the frame at position 58 and at the other end to the bar at position 60 keeps the mechanism tight and non-rattling. As stated, the cam action keeps one of the stops raised while the other is lowered. In other words, if stop 32 is lowered permitting can Hi to move over against the rotor, the stop 3| is up at that time so as to block oncoming can [4. When, however, the can I6 has been lifted out of the way of the next can l4, then stop 3| V is lowered and stop 32 is raised. This causes the oncoming can to assume a position shown in dotted lines 62 and from which position the can is moved to the right (Fig. 3) as by its own movement under the influence of gravity or by the pressure of part 22 just before the can is lifted from position. I

The operation of the machine will be evident from the description of it that has been given. The cans are set upon the conveyor rollers I2, moved down by conventional means, either by gravity or a power conveyor (not shown) on which the cans may slip when a stop prevents their further movement to the lifting position, the stop 3| being lowered by spring 56 when the cam 29 has rotated beyond the position. inwhich this cam serves to depress stop 32 and, through the arm 48, to raise stop 3|, the stop 31 be ing lowered until the forward can assumes approximately the. position to which it is to be lifted. Then the fingers orlifting elements attached to the rotor are moved under the can and the can is held, by cradle 38 against the end of the rack 34 until the can is inverted and. milk starts to pour therefrom. The pushing member 40 completes the inversion of the can and pushes the can in the direction of the conveyor 44'for moving it to the cleaning and sterilizing operations for empty cans. The operation is rapid and economical. V r

While the machine has been illustrated by description in connection with lifting and emptying milk cans. it is to be understood that the machine may be used for lifting and inverting other similarly shaped containers or articles.

It will be understood also that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A lifting and emptying machine for a con tainer for fiowable material which comprises a rotor, a lifting member including a base for engagement under the bottom of the upright container and a cradle element extending from a part of the said base that is at the rear of the container when the machine is in operation and extending towards the center of the rotor, means securing the lifting member to the rotor in fixed relation thereto, means for rotating in a complete circle the rotor with attached lifting member and container supported on the lifting member, a receiver for the flowable material of the container, means for supporting the container when inverted above the receiver so that the said material flows into the receiver, and

means for moving the container; when inverted and emptied, away from the plane of rotation of the said rotor, the means for supporting the 7 the lifting member at that stage of the rotation by a distance greater than the height of the container, so that the lifting member clears the container as the rotor continues to rotate.

2. The machine as described in claim 1, in which the means for supporting the container when inverted is below the axis of rotation of the rotor.

3. A machine for emptying containers as described in claim 1 including a conveyor for moving upright containers one after another towards the rotor and to the position of pick-up by the said lifting member, a stop for limiting movement of the forward one of the containers to a position just short of the said pick-up position adjacent to the rotor, and a cam on the rotor for depressing the said stop from the operating position between the container and the rotor, just previous to engagement of the lifting member under the container.

4. A machine for emptying containers as described in claim 1 including a, conveyor for moving upright containers one after another towards the rotor and to the position of pick-up by the said lifting member, and a stop beyond this said position for preventing movement of the forward one of the containers beyond the said pick-up position and means actuated by the said rotor for removing this stop just before the can is picked up by the said lifting member, so that the can may move beyond the position of the stop and in the direction of the rotor.

5. A milk can emptying machine which comprises a, lifting member for engagement under the bottom of an upright milk can, a rotor, means securing the lifting member to the rotor in fixed angular relation thereto, means for rotating the rotor with attached lifting member and supported milk can, a conveyor for moving upright cans of milk one after another towards the rotor and to the position of pick-up by the lifting member, a stop beyond this said position for limiting the movement of the forward one of the milk cans, means on the said rotor for actuating the stop to inoperative position just before the can is picked up by the said lifting member, so that the can may move beyond the position of the stop and in the direction of the rotor, an additional stop at a point just in advance of the position of pick-up of the said milk can, a cam on the rotor for raising this stop to the operative position during the period of lifting of the can out of the way of the next oncoming can, and a spring for lowering the additional stop from operative position at the stage of the rotation of the rotor following the lifting of the milk can from the position at which the next milk can is to be picked up, so that the milk cans follow one another to the lifting position and the second can is kept from the position until the first can is lifted out of the way.

6. A machine as described in claim 5 including a bracket attached to the rotor for moving the container when fully inverted, away from the plane of rotation of the said rotor.

7. The machine described in claim 5 including a rack for supporting the can in inverted position, the rack holding the can against the lifting member until the can is inclined to an angle for outflow of milk and the rack being disposed below the said lifting member when the lifting member is rotated to the position of maximum elevation above the rack by an amount greater than the height of the milk can plus the height of the lifting member, so that the milk can in coming to rest upon the rack moves away from the lifting member and the lifting member in the further rotation of the rotor passes over and beyond the milk can without striking the can.

8. A machine for lifting, inverting and emptying cans of milk, the machine comprising the combination of means for delivering milk cans one by one to the lifting position, a lifting member, means for rotating the lifting member through a complete circle passing under the said position so that the lifting member engages a can and elevates it, means for tilting the can and gradually increasing the angle of tilting as the lifting member rotates until the can is completely inverted when the lifting member is at the top of its circle of rotation, means for receiving the milk discharged from the tilted can, and means for disengaging the can from the lifting member at the top of the circle of rotation so that the lifting member is rotatable beyond that point without further contact with the can.

SIDNEY HERBERT HARRISON. 

